Sweden's Deranged
have been active since the '90s. I purchased a double CD release
of Rated-X, which came with a mini CD titled Sculpture
of the Dead. This release from the now defunct Spanish label
Repulse Records was an eye opener for me. Deranged
are a
Swedish band which went for a more American style sounding death
metal and not the Swedish death metal sound which became
associated with acts from there such as early Entombed
and Dismember. The sheer sonic ferocity and thunderous
production with perfectly gurgled vocals gave Deranged
their trademark sound. Rated-Xwas, and still is, one of
my favorite brutal death metal releases ever.

The release will feature many different options including a very
cool second CD with re-mastered songs from many early demos and
Deranged releases such as Confessions of a Necrophile,
The Confession Continues and Upon the Medical Slab.
Struck By A
Murderous Siege is 8 tracks of technical and
brutal death metal by the band who know how to do it best. The
second track on the disc was previously released on a Mini CD
from Sevared Records, titled Morgue Orgy. That
aforementioned song is Hello From The Gutters which takes
quotes from serial killer David Berkowitz. I almost prefer the
Morgue Orgy mini CD version of this song, because it has
a heavier and rawer sound than the version on this new release.
Hello From The Gutters is a mid paced chugging song and
it goes to show that not every death metal track needs to be
played at a break neck pace. There are a couple mid tempo songs
on here, as well as some sped up ones, with some wonderful
breakdowns and tempo changes.

The stand outs for me on the album are the opener titled The
Frail Illusion Of Osterology, Cold Icy Hands, the
title track and Toy Box Torture Chamber. Struck By A
Murderous Siege is probably not my favorite Deranged
release recently as Cut, Carve, Rip, Serve was a
wonderful and a brutal sounding throwback to the '90s area of
that New York style death metal (Cannibal Corpse, Suffocation) but only done way better.

This release will please fans, and especially the two disc set
which will include the early re-mastered demos on a second disc
titled Postmortem Rituals. Agonia are going all out with
this release including vinyl and a whole range of merchandise so
contact the label at
AgoniaRecords.com for more info. At the least you can
digitally download the album on Band Camp for like $6, so it's a
no brainier to support these guys who have been in the business
paying dues, kicking ass and taking names for over 20 years and
still doing it. Support real and pure brutal death metal.